News and Events
BSc in Automotive Degree Aimed at School Leavers Proves a Success
2 September 2010
With talk of University cut backs, student debt and competition for places, Loughborough University, in conjunction with Ford and a number of car retailers, has successfully pioneered a three-year BSc(Hons) degree delivered to school leavers while they were working full time.
Programme Director Professor Jim Saker said, "Three years ago we were granted permission to launch a BSc degree in Automotive Dealership Management aimed at A-level school leavers with jobs in the retail automotive sector. This was quite a risk for the University as majority of BSc degrees in the UK require a minimum of three years' full-time study. With our first-ever cohort having graduated this July, we have proved that it is possible for young people to get a proper University Honours degree by integrating their studies with their work situation. It offers an alternative model for 18 year olds to gain a degree without student debt."
Ruth Cufflin from the Centre for Automotive Management added: "One of the real benefits was that the students could apply what they had learnt in their lectures directly into their work situation. This type of application speeds up the learning process and means that they can complete part time what other students are having to work at full time."
Having students sponsored through degree programmes is not uncommon, but usually this involves the student studying full time and then maybe working for the company during the long vacation. In this case the car retailer paid the University fees while the student worked in a normal role within the company. The programme was delivered in short four-day blocks using blended learning. In the past, this approach has been used by mature students who often already had higher-level qualifications. This new degree, however, is the first BSc offered to an industry sector in this way.
The Dean of the School of Business and Economics, Professor Angus Laing, said of the programme, "The conventional Loughborough Undergraduate programmes continue to boom, but we are committed to exploring alternative delivery methods and will endeavour to continue to fulfil the needs of industry and our students."
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